Half of this award has to be paid back. The Foundation is direct about it: the scholarship is structured as half grant and half loan, 50 percent of the amount is repayable, a guarantor has to co-sign the agreement, and repayment with a service charge starts six months after graduation. That is unusual among the awards in this directory and it should shape how the offer is weighed.
What the money covers is tuition and living expenses. What it does not cover is the flight, clothing, furniture and anything for family members, so an applicant needs a plan for those before arriving.
The Foundation asks to be treated as a resource of last resort. A credible multi-source funding plan covering every year of study is an eligibility requirement, not a nicety, and applicants are asked to reduce the amount they request by securing other funding first.
PhD candidates should read the duration carefully. Master's awards run for the whole degree; doctoral awards cover two years and then stop, with scholars expected to find funding elsewhere for the rest.
Geography works in two directions. The programme runs in Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda, and in Canada, Portugal and the USA it accepts applications from people originally from one of those countries. On the destination side, study in the United Kingdom or Russia cannot currently be funded.
Local and regional universities qualify, and so does distance learning where course quality holds up, which widens the field considerably. Part-time programmes and short courses do not.
One timing rule catches people out: the award is for students entering the first year of a postgraduate programme. Anyone already enrolled or partway through is ineligible, however strong the case.
Preference goes to young professionals under 30, and the award renews on continued academic standing and continued financial need rather than automatically.
Applications run through the Foundation's contacts in each country rather than a central portal, so deadlines are local.
The International Scholarship Programme page was checked on 22 September 2026, when the 2026-2027 cycle had closed and the Foundation said the next would open in early 2027 without naming a date.